Letters

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige is making a mistake in
eliminating the teacher- and principal-in-residence positions at the
U.S. Department of Education ("Groups Plead To Keep Resident Teacher,
Principal at ED," May 16, 2001). While there are many ways to seek the
input of teachers and principals, having someone at the department
providing a "reality check" on a daily basis is by far the most
effective. I have firsthand experience with two very different
approaches to seeking input from practitioners.

To the Editor:

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige is making a mistake in
eliminating the teacher- and principal-in-residence positions at the
U.S. Department of Education ("Groups Plead To Keep Resident Teacher,
Principal at ED," May 16, 2001). While there are many ways to
seek the input of teachers and principals, having someone at the
department providing a "reality check" on a daily basis is by far the
most effective. I have firsthand experience with two very different
approaches to seeking input from practitioners.

When Lamar Alexander was appointed secretary of education in the
first Bush administration, he invited the previous 10 National Teachers
of the Year to meet with him on the day he took office. I was there.
Secretary Alexander made a big point of talking about why it was
important to seek the input of teachers. Pictures were taken, and a
press release went out. But, to my knowledge, he did not follow through
with that commitment.

I was also at the department on the day that Secretary of Education
Richard W. Riley took office in 1993. In contrast to his predecessor's
approach, Secretary Riley said it was important to involve teachers and
principals every day in the work of the Education Department. I
was honored to serve as his senior adviser on teaching—a position
created to ensure that the perspective of teachers was represented in
policy discussions. On numerous occasions, colleagues told me that my
physical presence in the department, and that of the teacher-in-
residence, reminded them that they needed to seek the opinions of
teachers in their work.

Contrary to the statements of Secretary Paige's spokeswoman, Lindsey
Kozberg, Secretary Riley's approach was not narrow. In fact, the
teachers- and principals-in-residence developed multiple ways for
department staff members to solicit input from practitioners.

For example, under Secretary Riley, the Clinton administration
solicited views from a broad range of practitioners through an annual
National Teacher Forum, a Principals' Summit, electronic online
networks of teachers and principals, focus groups, and the creation of
an exemplary-teacher database that could be queried when the
administration needed advice from teachers with specific backgrounds.
In each of these cases, the administration sought the honest opinions
and experiences of teachers and principals, not support for its
specific policies.

In addition to being the persons responsible for getting
practitioner input into the policymaking process, a teacher- and
principal-in- residence are critical for another reason. During my
eight-year tenure in Washington, it was my experience that many policy
decisions must be made quickly. There is no time to bring together a
focus group of teachers or principals—or even to wait for a
response from an electronic mailing list. Without someone in the
secretary's office providing a practitioner's perspective, many
decisions will be made by people with little or no classroom
experience.

That is unfortunate. Good ideas don't often lead to good policy
decisions unless we ask, "How will this play out in schools and
classrooms?" Often, there is little time to answer that question.
Policymakers need to be able to turn to someone they know who has been
in the classroom and with whom they can communicate. Someone who they
trust and can respect, yet with whom they may disagree, and whose No. 1
job is to represent the perspective of teachers and principals.

It is not an easy job. But if President Bush wants to make sure that
we leave no child behind, he must seek the knowledge, experience, and
insight of practitioners. He can begin by asking Secretary Paige to
retain the teacher- and principal-in-residence positions—and to
cultivate relationships with these individuals, whose primary
responsibility must be to represent the views of teachers and
principals honestly, openly, and daily.

Terry Dozier

National Teacher in Residence and

Associate Professor

Virginia Commonwealth University

School of Education

Richmond, Va.

Vol. 20, Issue 38, Page 38

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